


Melodrama

by P0tatonoah



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe, Andrew being his grumpy self, Andrew pretending he's not soft, Angst, Fluff, Healing, M/M, Past Violence, Scars, Street Racing, is this that dude from that series?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26444902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P0tatonoah/pseuds/P0tatonoah
Summary: “This is just…you’rejust too much Andrew”. Minyard didn’t really care for whatmother fucking Rolandhad to say, after all they’d been seeing each other for just a couple of months, but the fact that he hadn’t been the first person to say that made Andrew feel things. And he didn’t likefeeling things.Well, not until he met a certain redhead *googly eyes emoji*
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 97





	1. Liability

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall  
> I wrote this based on Lorde's songs: Liability, Homemade Dynamite and Liability (reprise) and that's where the names for each segment come from.  
> You don't have to listen to them to understand, but it helps setting the tone.
> 
> Also big thanks to beta reader @alex_glasses. Ms Glasses, your opinions were much appreciated <3

**_-They say "You’re a little much for me, you’re a liability”-_ **

Andrew felt the smoke burn his lungs and welcomed the feeling. He was alone in his living room, doing a great job of looking out the window and feeling sorry for himself. Not that it would show. To the outside viewer he just looked bored.

In his head, though, he played Roland’s words in a loop, felt their weight as they sank in. “This is just… _you’re_ just too much Andrew”. Minyard didn’t really care for what _mother fucking Roland_ had to say, after all they’d been seeing each other for just a couple of months, but the fact that he hadn’t been the first person to say that made Andrew feel things. And he didn’t like _feeling_ things.

As he sat there, watching the smoke get caught in the wind, Andrew started to remember all of the times someone had though he was _“too much”_ . His mother treating him like crap because having two kids was too much. His father never showing up because _any_ amount of kids was too much. His foster families kicking him when he was already down because dealing with his pain was too much. And, of course, all of the times people close to him -the few that were left- looked at him with a mixture of disgust and fear in their eyes.

“Fuck this” he said as he got off the windowsill, throwing the cigarette butt on the street below and getting his car keys. 

**_-You’re all gonna watch me disappear into the sun-_ **

After driving for an hour Andrew was ready to go home, but when he stopped at a traffic light and saw the white Mitsubishi, he knew he couldn’t go back yet.

Andrew looked at the driver in the other car, just a kid really, but there was something about his face, his smile, that creeped Andrew out. A kind of danger that could only come with a high level of self-loathing. At least that he could appreciate. This thing they did was becoming second nature to Andrew. He didn’t need to think about gear shifts or telling his body when to act. Maybe that’s why he kept coming back. 

The light turned green. 

As Minyard hit the gas, he could feel the pressure ease. The lights passing by taking his thoughts away with them. Andrew could feel the hum of the engine pulse through his body and God, that was something he didn’t mind feeling. He couldn’t hear anything but his breathing and the thumping of his heart against his chest. The streets went by in a blur and the only thing that mattered was that moment. When they reached the intersection with the main avenue, the Mitsubishi kept going, but Andrew knew better than to get caught while he was on parole. “Let the kid have this one” he thought. Their only prize was to keep breathing and Andrew was tired of that anyway.

**_-Don’t know you super well, but I think that you might be the same as me-_ **

“So much for letting that motherfucker win” Andrew muttered to himself as the officer escorted him to his cell. Turns out there was a patrol car just around the corner and they found it easier to bring Andrew in than to race across town after the white Evo. “What did you say?” The guard asked, and then seeing Minyard wasn't going to answer, added “Chill out kid, your parole officer can pick you up in the morning.”

And that’s how Andrew found himself seated in a dark jail cell with two weirdos. The first one was standing in the far corner, his hunched posture only increasing the weirdness of his face. Andrew couldn't decide if his paleness made him beautiful or creepy. The second man, which was sitting directly across from him, had auburn hair and tanned skin. Someone -definitely not Andrew- might have considered him handsome even with all the scars on his face. 

They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity until weirdo number 1 decided to start chatting. Andrew could swear that, as soon as the boy opened his mouth, the clock started moving backwards. What a slow death that night would be…

“So what are you in for?” 01 asked. Andrew gave him the most menacing stare he could muster in hopes the guy would leave him alone, but all it did was invite him to tell a super uninteresting story about someone being murdered on a line in a forest or whatever. 

_“I'll never do stupid shit again if you get me out of here right now”_ Andrew silently promised to a god he didn’t believe in. At this point he’d try anything to get rid of the never ending pain in the ass that 01 was proving to be. When he was done blabbing, Creepy Kid had managed to pry the answer out of both Andrew and weirdo number 2. Apparently, the guy had run his mouth at a cop, stopping short of calling out the dude’s mama. That probably explained some of the newer bruises on his cheek and lower lip…

Andrew shook his head, he was _not_ staring at the other guy’s lips.

**_-So let’s let things come out of the woodwork-_ **

After that, they enjoyed a very brief period of silence which was broken by 01’s sudden wail of boredom. “should we play a game? I feel like we should play a game”. “This isn’t a slumber party, we're in jail” 02 pointed out. “Semantics…” retorted 01 and then, turning to Andrew, “Please?”. And suddenly he was standing very close, too close. _“How did he get here? Did I black out?”_ Andrew thought, confused. He put as much distance between their bodies as he could without standing up and said “I don’t like that word.” “Why?” 01 asked with a grin as if he was already amused by the answer. Leaning into the wall, Andrew said “Sit. you ass. _down._ ” The boy obeyed and took his place at the bench along 02. “Bet i’d win anyway” He whispered into the other one’s ear. 

_"This is hell”_ Minyard thought. Maybe he'd crashed the car and died and now he was being punished for all his sins. At some point in the last hour weirdos 1 and 2 had teamed up to make him miserable. It started with a simple thumb fight, then arm wrestling, and turned into a competition to see who was the bigger idiot. It was a tie. 

When they decided to see who could last longer in handstand position, 02’s t-shirt, which he’d tucked in his pants, came loose and slipped almost to his chin, leaving his torso exposed. Andrew first took in the man’s abs, feeling his face grow hotter, and then he noticed the scars. Little burn marks all over his abdomen and chest, their shape making it clear someone had used him as a human ashtray. Andrew could feel every muscle in his body tense at the sight, the pain mirrored in his own skin. 02 quickly righted himself avoiding any eye contact with Andrew and moving to sit on the opposite bench, the smile he’d been wearing stripped from his face. Creepy Kid sat next to him, but didn’t say anything. 

**_-And all of the shit that we harbour make all of the kids in the choirs sing woohoo-_ **

Andrew must have fallen asleep, because when he came to Creepy Kid was gone and he was alone with weirdo number 2. 

“You’re staring” 02 accused. 

“No, I’m not” 

“He said, _staring_ ” 

“Funny"

“People stare a lot. All the scars and shit. I’m used to it.”

“Bullshit” 

“How'd you know?”

“If you were used to it, you wouldn’t care if people saw them”

“I don’t” 

“I think your pants are burning”

“Your momma didn't teach you manners?”

“She tried… She should’ve known better, though”

“What does that mean?”

“That I don’t like being lied to”

“Good thing I don’t care then” He said with a smirk. 

Andrew left his perch on the bench to sit next to his annoying cellmate. Without saying anything he just lifted the sleeves of his hoodie exposing his own scars. 02’s eyes widened just a fraction but he stayed in silence.

They sat like this for a while, none of them daring to say the wrong thing until 02 slowly lifted his hand and let it hover over Andrew’s arm, waiting for permission. When Andrew nodded, he used his fingers to slowly trace the lines there, face inscrutable.

“Are _you_ ashamed?”

“No” 

“Who’s lying now?”

“It’s not shame. It makes me angry. This… Knowing why they’re there” 

02 let go of his arm then, looking away and Andrew could almost hear his thoughts. Hooking a finger under his chin, the blond turned the other man’s face towards him, then rested his thumb against his cheek. Andrew gently touched every bit of puckered skin, thinking how awful it must be to have such a cruel memory staring at you in the mirror everyday. He felt the other man’s lashes on his palm as he closed his eyes. The slight switch of his body weight as he relaxed under Andrew's touch. At that moment, he wished he could make it better regardless of how stupid that might sound.

As the hours passed they talked about the places they'd been to and compared their list of misdemeanors and felonies. 02 was really the competitive type and recited his crimes like badges of honor. 

“What kind of idiot picks a fight with a cop?” Minyard asked.

“Hey, I was minding my own business” 

“You said you were breaking into a house”

“An _empty_ one” Andrew could hear more than see the guy’s eye roll.

“Neil Josten” called the guard “Your uncle’s here for you”.

“Shit. Already?” 

“If you don’t wanna go home, I can ask him to leave” the guard joked.

“I’d appreciate that” 02, _Neil_ , mumbled.

“You're so fucked up” Said Andrew disbelievingly. “Yeah, but so are you” Neil laughed. And Minyard was annoyed to realize he’d do just about anything to hear that laugh again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a lot of words!  
> If you made it here, please let me know what you think.  
> oh I'm also on tumblr if you wanna send me prompts or smth @p0tatonoah.  
> xx


	2. Louvre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, fluffty-fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SORRY
> 
> I waited too long to write chapter two and it died a horrible death.  
> But because I didn't want to leave it like that and I had these ideas, Imma just post them here.  
> They are just a series of thoughts I had, but maybe you'll enjoy it? Who knows?
> 
> (Song: Louvre - by Lorde)

**_-But we’re the greatest, they’ll hang us in the Louvre-_ **

How did he get here?

As he watched the boxes being unloaded from the car, Andrew wondered at how things had progressed this quickly. Only a few months back he was a mess staring out a window feeling worthless, and now…

“Hey, you ok?”

“I’m Fine.”

“Then come help me with these boxes,” the annoying redhead asked with a huff.

Neil had called him a few days after they got released from jail and, when Andrew asked how he’d even gotten his number, he just claimed his uncle knew some people. After that, everything was a blur. Andrew wasn’t quite convinced he hadn’t hallucinated the whole thing.

—

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Neil asked.

“No.”

“Drew…”

They were sitting on their crappy couch, Andrew had his laptop on his lap, a university website stared back at him from the screen. A year ago Andrew would've thought he didn’t belong in a place like that. Whenever he'd met Aaron at the campus he could feel people staring at him, judging. Now he shook his head to disperse those thoughts and hit _send_. There. Done.

“I'm so proud of you,” Neil said kissing his temple. “It's just an application, we don’t know if they’ll let me in,” Andrew said closing the laptop. He took a deep breath.

“I know, but still. We should celebrate,” Andrew scrunched up his face at the impromptu hug, but eased into it when Neil whispered in his ear “You deserve the world Drew.”

—

Neil was definitely a pain in the ass. 

“C’mon, we’ll be late!”

“Almost there, wait a sec,” Neil shouted from the bathroom. Andrew went to stand at the door, staring at his boyfriend's reflection as he applied makeup over his scars.

“Shit, it’s not working.”

“You don’t need tha-“

“It’s Aaron’s graduation, there will be pictures. I wanna look hot and outshine him in every single one of them.” Neil interrupted, getting some distance from the mirror to check his work.

“And you will do just that with or without all that stuff on your face,” Andrew said hugging his boyfriend from behind. Neil closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. “You're beautiful, Neil… You listening?” Neil nodded, turning in Andrew’s arms to face him. The blond thought his heart would give out at the sight of those big blue eyes staring at him.

“C’mon,” he said with a slap to Neil’s butt. “If you don’t get your ass in the car in 5 minutes, I’m leaving without you.”

—

They saw 01 once more, when Andrew took his car to a mechanic in town. The boy was sitting on the hood of an orange car. He didn’t say anything to them, just gave a two finger salute and smiled. His mouth a thin line, his eyes glinting like had a secret. “That kid gives me the creeps,” Andrew whispered to Neil. “Same.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry. This writer will never post multiple chapter fics without having written them. Lesson learned.  
> If you read this, let me know what you think, it helps a lot.
> 
> I'm also on tumblr if you wanna yell at me @p0tatonoah.


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